Reproducing the British Caribbean: Sex, Gender, and Population Politics after Slavery
This innovative book traces the history of ideas and policymaking concerning population growth and infant and maternal welfare in Caribbean colonies wrestling with the aftermath of slavery. Focusing on Jamaica, Guyana, and Barbados from the nineteenth century through the 1930s, when violent labor protests swept the region, Juanita De Barros takes a comparative approach in analyzing the struggles among former slaves and masters attempting to determine the course of their societies after emancipation.

Invested in the success of the "great experiment" of slave emancipation, colonial officials developed new social welfare and health policies. Concerns about the health and size of ex-slave populations were expressed throughout the colonial world during this period. In the Caribbean, an emergent black middle class, rapidly increasing immigration, and new attitudes toward medicine and society were crucial factors. While hemispheric and diasporic trends influenced the new policies, De Barros shows that local physicians, philanthropists, midwives, and the impoverished mothers who were the targets of this official concern helped shape and implement efforts to ensure the health and reproduction of Caribbean populations in the decades before independence.
1119005115
Reproducing the British Caribbean: Sex, Gender, and Population Politics after Slavery
This innovative book traces the history of ideas and policymaking concerning population growth and infant and maternal welfare in Caribbean colonies wrestling with the aftermath of slavery. Focusing on Jamaica, Guyana, and Barbados from the nineteenth century through the 1930s, when violent labor protests swept the region, Juanita De Barros takes a comparative approach in analyzing the struggles among former slaves and masters attempting to determine the course of their societies after emancipation.

Invested in the success of the "great experiment" of slave emancipation, colonial officials developed new social welfare and health policies. Concerns about the health and size of ex-slave populations were expressed throughout the colonial world during this period. In the Caribbean, an emergent black middle class, rapidly increasing immigration, and new attitudes toward medicine and society were crucial factors. While hemispheric and diasporic trends influenced the new policies, De Barros shows that local physicians, philanthropists, midwives, and the impoverished mothers who were the targets of this official concern helped shape and implement efforts to ensure the health and reproduction of Caribbean populations in the decades before independence.
19.99 In Stock
Reproducing the British Caribbean: Sex, Gender, and Population Politics after Slavery

Reproducing the British Caribbean: Sex, Gender, and Population Politics after Slavery

by Juanita De Barros
Reproducing the British Caribbean: Sex, Gender, and Population Politics after Slavery

Reproducing the British Caribbean: Sex, Gender, and Population Politics after Slavery

by Juanita De Barros

eBook

$19.99 

Available on Compatible NOOK devices, the free NOOK App and in My Digital Library.
WANT A NOOK?  Explore Now

Related collections and offers


Overview

This innovative book traces the history of ideas and policymaking concerning population growth and infant and maternal welfare in Caribbean colonies wrestling with the aftermath of slavery. Focusing on Jamaica, Guyana, and Barbados from the nineteenth century through the 1930s, when violent labor protests swept the region, Juanita De Barros takes a comparative approach in analyzing the struggles among former slaves and masters attempting to determine the course of their societies after emancipation.

Invested in the success of the "great experiment" of slave emancipation, colonial officials developed new social welfare and health policies. Concerns about the health and size of ex-slave populations were expressed throughout the colonial world during this period. In the Caribbean, an emergent black middle class, rapidly increasing immigration, and new attitudes toward medicine and society were crucial factors. While hemispheric and diasporic trends influenced the new policies, De Barros shows that local physicians, philanthropists, midwives, and the impoverished mothers who were the targets of this official concern helped shape and implement efforts to ensure the health and reproduction of Caribbean populations in the decades before independence.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781469616063
Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press
Publication date: 08/04/2014
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 296
File size: 2 MB

About the Author

Juanita De Barros is professor of history at McMaster University.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments xi

Introduction 1

1 Slavery, Emancipation, and Reproducing the Race 16

2 Population Anxieties and Infant Mortality 40

3 Grannies, Midwives, and Colonial Encounters 67

4 Infant Welfare, Maternal Education, and Uplifting the Race 94

5 International Public Health and Caribbean Child-Saving 126

Conclusion. Social Welfare Policies and Population Questions in the 1930s 159

Notes 177

Bibliography 231

Index 263

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

De Barros provides a pioneering view of the emergence of public health as a component of the new terms of public life that were opened by slave emancipation, demonstrating the centrality of sex, marriage, and women's reproductive labor to the emergence of new social orders after slavery.—Julie Saville, University of Chicago

Addressing gender and specifically reproduction, De Barros's work makes a much-needed contribution to the literature on postemancipation societies, situating itself within the larger historiography of Caribbean and Afro-diasporic societies. It will be welcomed by a broad range of scholars and teachers, not only in Caribbean history but also in the history of medicine and in women's studies.—Julia Rodriguez, University of New Hampshire

From the B&N Reads Blog

Customer Reviews